Special event! Ashley McKenzie and Sarah Walker will attend both screenings!
Friday, March 10, 7:00 PM - Full capacity - artists attending
Saturday, March 11, 7:00 PM - Full capacity - artists attending
Ashley McKenzie | Canada | 2022 | 122m | English, Mandarin, and Russian with English subtitles
with Sarah Walker, Ziyin Zheng
In a remote small town, Star (Sarah Walker), a neurodiverse teen, forms an unlikely rapport with An (Ziyin Zheng), an international student from Shanghai volunteering at the hospital. Between the two, a bond forms, cemented by their candid conversations, nightly text messages, and exchange of their deepest secrets. The boundaries of their friendship quickly expand into something special, altering both Star and An's inner alchemy.
Queens of the Qing Dynasty is a queer friendship romance that breaches the absurd and poetic. Both intimate and intense, it explores the intrinsic beauty and innate flaws of what it is to be human, the profundity of connection, the vortex of mental illness, and the creativity of neurodivergence. Queens of the Qing Dynasty is an affectionate ode to women, asexuals, and genderqueer individuals who exist beyond the norms of society, by writer and director Ashley McKenzie (Werewolf, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and played previously at Carbon Arc).
"The new Canadian film Queens of the Qing Dynasty is both the most unexpected and perfect follow-up that any fan of Ashley McKenzie, one of this country’s most exciting filmmakers, could possibly anticipate." -Barry Hertz, - Critics Pick - The Globe and Mail
"McKenzie has crafted a film that feels like a fairytale for these isolating times. It reminds us how much we need each other in order to flourish and fully know ourselves." -Jourdain Searles, IndieWire
Online tickets are sold out. Some rush tickets may be available at the door for $8 cash.
Please note! Related event!
Ashley McKenzie will be taking part in Modernism and Film: A Talk with Ashley McKenzie with the Halifax Modernist Seminar. The discussion will take place on Saturday, March 11th at 4pm, in Program Room 301 of the Halifax Central Library (3rd floor), and is open to the public.
Carbon Arc Cinema is extremely grateful to MDFF for making it possible for Ashley McKenzie and Sarah Walker to attend the screenings as well as making their film available to Canadians.
